


the ecliptic

by badend (cogito)



Category: Elsword (Video Game)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Priest AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-25
Updated: 2020-05-25
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24362404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cogito/pseuds/badend
Summary: Erbluhen is sent to purify the corruption from the land outside the white walls of the capital.
Relationships: Ainchase Ishmael/Ainchase Ishmael/Ainchase Ishmael
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. messidor

He woke with the rooster’s crow at the crack of dawn pulled himself out of bed and watched the sky light up with the sun.

**part i.** the long summer.

> ****messidor.  
>  ** **

In the mirror, he gave his reflection a once-over and smoothed his hair. He didn't feel particularly rested, but he didn't feel particularly unrested either. Somewhat satisfied, he finally slipped into fresh clothes that smelled like the sun. There was a bag of herbs that had been stuffed among them, inside the basket between some soft fabric, and Arme tucked the scented pouch into his clothes for safety with a secret smile to himself.

He left his room and passed into the hallway, paying no mind to the acolytes bowing their heads as he passed. Ishmael had not deemed them worthy of the priesthood. There was no need to speak to them.

He found who he was looking for in the great hall and stood there. Father Erbluhen Emotion was standing in the center, underneath a statue of the goddess. There was a sheet of parchment in his hands, and he was actively checking a list of supplies with a knight that was standing nearby. By the design of the armour, the knight was a crusader being sent out on the mission with Erbluhen. The knight's visor was raised, Arme could see the pink in his cheeks. He clicked his tongue and told himself the armour was hot inside.

Erbluhen caught his eyes and smiled.

With an apologetic glance, Erbluhen dismissed the knight. In return, Arme brushed the triumphant grin from his face and approached him. It was hard to resist the urge to smile back, but he kept his face steely.

"All ready?" Arme asked, feeling awkward now. His clothes felt itchy and he didn't like how uncomfortable they felt. Even though they were rich, white silks from exotic lands, Arme felt as if they were rough linens, scratching his skin.

"Mmm, more or less," Erbluhen laughed, giving his list another once over, "Everything's in order, probably."  
"Did you double-check? Probably isn't good enough."  
"I triple checked. I'm ready to go."

That's what he said, but Arme felt no relief.

"If... If anything happens, there's knights and magicians around to protect you and-" Arme was rambling, and Erbluhen held up a hand to stop him.

"It's alright. Ishmael is with me."

Right. Arme bit his lip, that was the reason why he was leaving. It may have been true, and god forbid Arme doubt the goddess that had protected him up to now, but her favour tended to be inconsistent, and yes she would be with him, but to what extent? That was what worried him.

"it'll be okay, you'll see. I'll be back before the first night-flower bloom, and we can watch the solstice sunrise like we always do."

Arme smiled wryly, "Spring is too long a wait, make it winter, or fall, the sooner the better."

Erbluhen nodded. It was as good as a promise.

"Be... Be well," The words sounded heavy on his tongue. He didn't like how they felt.

"You too," Erbluhen reached for his hands and squeezed them tight, "I'll be back soon. Ishmael is watching over me, so don't be too worried."

How could he not be, Arme thought somewhat bitterly, you're the only person in this church worth anything to me.

"You'll come to see me off, right?"

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it."

Erbluhen beamed brightly, so Arme sighed and asked, "So, when is it?"

The other priest paused, the smile momentarily disappeared from his face. Arme raised a questioning eyebrow as if waiting for Erbluen to spring the punchline. Finally, he burst into laughter, "I forgot!"

"You, what? It's probably one of the most important things in your life, and you forgot?"

Erbluhen failed his hands somewhat helplessly, "I'm bad at remembering, and you're always the one that remembers for me, so... I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

But Arme knew he wasn't sorry at all.

"Well, it's a big event, someone's bound to know." Arme sighed.

"So, even you don't know?"

"I'm not the one leaving, Erbluhen."

"Right, right," Erbluhen laughed again, "I'll follow your lead."

"Tch, try to do things for yourself for once," Arme muttered, but with how warm Erbluehn's hand was in his, it wasn't like he really minded.

Erbluhen's departure was a set for the next day.

When Arme found out, he cast an accusing glance at Erlubhen, but upon inspecting the knowing expression he wore, Arme suspected he had already known. The whole thing was just a fluke to spend more time with him.

Nevertheless, that gave hem another precious evening together, and when he asked Erbluhen want he wanted to do, he shrugged and said, "Spending time with you is all I want to do."

Erbluhen Emotion was damn infuriating, but Arme was helpless too, so the two of them went into the courtyard and sat down on a grassy patch.

it was approaching summer, and the warm evening brought out some early fireflies. Above them, the night sky was settling in. Erbluhen would point to a particularly bright star and call out its name. Arme focused on the sound of Erbluhen's voice, the rise and fall of his chest, and the way his shoulders shifted. Things that would be gone for some time. Erbluhen would ask a weird question, which Arme would ignore or dismiss altogether.

There was one, however, he could not ignore.

"Is it wrong that we're together?"

The question caught him off guard, and he couldn't respond. When he tried to run through the answers in his head, Erbluhen shook his head and interrupted his thought process.

"if you have to think about it, by all means, think about it. I don't want you to ask Ishmael about it. Tell me your feelings when you're ready."

Arme inhaled.

"You can tell me when I come back," Erbluhen sounded hurt. He was standing up. Arme, in a panic, reached out before he had realized it, yanking him down into the grass, rolling over and pinning him into the field. Arme stared into Erbluhen's soft green eyes beneath him.

"That's too long to wait. I'll tell you right now."

Erbluhen's eyes went wide.

"I want to be with you, even if it's wrong."

He could see the tears welled up in Erbluhen's eyes, but he shook his head and laughed again, "I didn't mean to cry, I just. Thank you for telling me that, before left."

Arme sighed and rolled off, "What am I going to do with you?"

Erbluhen sat up again, rubbing his eyes free of tears, "I thought that was obvious! Love me, of course!"

"I'll kill you," Arme threatened, but Erbluhen hadn't stopped laughing, and under the moonlight, Arme would have been happy if that smile on Erbluhen's face, illuminated by the moon, and the cool breeze blowing through the gardens was the last thing he ever saw.

Erbluhen teased him as they walked into the courtyard the next morning, "Arme, you care too much about the little things,"

"Little things boil into large things, and you don't care about anything at all," Arme replied, and Erbluhen pouted.

"If it was going to boil into a large thing, it wouldn't have started small. I would have settled it then."

Arme knew he would miss banter over nothing. Erlubhen always poked at his buttons, but it was never in a demeaning or serious way, and Arme never found it irritating, not seriously, at least. Everyone else was too stiff to joke around him, and when Erbluhen's laughter no longer echoed in his mind, the silence would really be deafening.

They stood in the courtyard, and for a second, their hands lingered together, but Erbluhen gave him a squeeze and let go. The warmth faded quickly, and Arme wiggled his fingers like a baby gaining control for the first time. Clumsily, he acknowledged the release.

The two of them approached the group of people in the center, "There you are, Father, we've been looking all over for you."

One of the knights greeted them, "We just need the cardinal to give the okay, then we'll march out."

"I see, thank you for coming with me." Erbluhen wore his usual, polite smile.

"It's our pleasure, we don't know what's out there, better safe than sorry, right?"

Arme pretended his chest didn't seize up at that moment.

It's a lot safer to know you'll be around, maybe I have some time to say goodbye?"

" 'Course, just be back before the cardinal's here, alright?"

Arme didn't even realize he had balled his hands into fists until Erbluhen brushed his hands over them.

"It'll be okay, Arme," He said in that reassuring tone, "I'll be back before you know it, so promise me you'll take care of yourself?"

If it would make him happy, "Sure," He would have promised Erbluhen the stars if he wanted them,

"Then-"

The bells in the tower began to ring, echoing through the halls of the citadel. The cardinal was up on the balcony, overlooking everyone in the courtyard. All the knights in the courtyard dropped to their knees. What an entrance, Arme thought bitterly as he bowed as well.

"Rise," amplified by the acoustics of the courtyard, he seemed louder and more imposing than usual.

"As you are aware, today is the first mission we've had in over fifty years, the goddess has called on one of our own to accomplish this mission, therefore, it would not-" He continued on. The is was information that hey had received several weeks ago, Arme knew the details. Erbluhen received a vision, then the church received the official notice from the monarch, now Erbluhen was being sent out. He kept his gaze on ERbluhen the entire time, who kept his gaze low, accepting the responsibility for the mission's success or failure.

"Tell us, Father, how you intend to purify the corruption at our gates?"

Erbluhen replied without wavering, The goddess has blessed me with knowledge, however, it must be kept secret until it is time."

A perfectly elusive Erbluhen answer.

"Father." But it was a tone of deferral.

"The goddess will provide. May we set off now? We mustn't dawdle, I have an engagement for when I return."

"Yes, of course, at once."

Arme helped Erbluhen in the wagon and ignored the sinking in his stomach.


	2. thermidor

The knights told Erbluhen Emotion that the trip into the corruption would take a while, but they wouldn’t tell him just how many days it was.

> **thermidor.**

Either way, he realized how much time there was before he would get anywhere. Without seeing the land itself, it was hard to know what to do and where to start, and it was even harder knowing that Ishmael had been silent since giving the decree.

The tall walls of the city behind him shrunk with each bounce of the cart. In the wagon, the only thing that passed the time was listening in on the stupid jokes his bodyguards were telling. The forest around them never changed. It was tree after tree, blocking out the sun with occasional light peeking through. He could only wait and think about the world ahead. Erbluhen’s eyes unfocused on the scenery before him, and just as he did, a furtive shadow darted past his vision, when he rubbed his eyes to check again, it was gone.

The redheaded bodyguard called him, “Father, is there something wrong?”

He shook his head, “I think I spaced out. I’m alright, thank you, and please, call me Erbluhen. Fathe sounds too formal.”

“Well,” The young guard scratched his head, “I’ll do my best. If you need anything, we’ll do our best to make you comfortable.”

Erbluhen pulled his attention from the forest back inside the cart. In front of him, the two boys went back to telling stupid jokes. One had hair the colour of flames with intense eyes to match, and the other wore a calmer but no less intense expression. His hair was the colour of sun-kissed gold, and his eyes reflected the deep blue ocean Erbluhen had only seen in tapestries.

Even if they looked ready, it didn’t change the fact that the two were mere boys. The couldn’t have been older than seventeen.

“Hey, Fath– Erbluhen,” The redhead said, “What did the goddess tell you?”

Erbluhen shook his head, “Her words are for the clergy alone.”

“But we want to know, there’s no harm in just saying it, right?”

“The goddess’ words are sacred, and those who are not authorized to hear them will be punished.”

His face drained of colour, “P-punished? We’re not scared of punishment!”

“The customary punishment is being strung up naked in the town square for a whole day, from sunrise to sundown.”

The redhead choked, “Er, no, actually, we’re fine. It’s okay, right, Chase?”

The blonde boy laughed, “Give it rest already, Rune, the father was just joking. You’re being a bother.”

Erbluhen, caught redhanded, joined in the laughter. “Guilty as charged, well, about the stringing up naked at least. There is a punishment for spreading words meant for clergy only.”

“Urk,”

“So give it a rest already, and stop prodding into other people’s business, alright?” Chase laughed again, and Rune shut his mouth and pouted. About bout thirty seconds later, he was talking again, but this time he was talking his cool older sister who was a traveler from city to city, human settlement to human settlement and how she once slew a griffon.

“Do you think she’s proud of me?” Rune asked Chase, and before Chase could answer, Erbluhen had placed his hand on Rune’s head.

“I’m sure she is. This is a very important mission.”

Rune beamed back brightly.

When the sunset came, they set up camp in the forest where they had stopped. Tents and blankets were distributed, and several of the hunting group disappeared into the forest to hunt for game.

“I’ll be alright,” Erbluhen assured his antsy-looking knights, and although reluctant, the two left him to join the hunt as well, with a promise to bring back the biggest game. With the two gone, Erbluhen sat down to tend the campfire. He had no responsibilities, but it wouldn’t do to laze around.

He thought back to Rune’s question as he stared into the fire and even back at the church when he left. When he was asked what Ishmael had told him, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell them, it was that Ishmael had given him no guidance. He would nothing he could say.

A few weeks ago, Ishmael said plainly, “Go in into corruption and purify the cause,” and fell silent.

If the purpose was purification, it would have made more sense to send Arme, Erbluhen thought. Arme had a much better, direct way with purification, while his own was slower and admittedly less harsh. He couldn’t wrap his mind around why she would send someone so ill-fitting.

Yet despite all that, which Ishmael didn’t budge. He was the one sitting here.

A shadow dashed past his vision, and Erbluhen stood up out of reflex. It was roughly the same size as before, a dark human-sized figure in the woods. Something, maybe someone, was in this forest and following them.

It was no secret there was life outside the city walls, but most would have preferred to hide in the darkness of these words, not wanter close to a disturbance in their home. It was debatable if these were humans, to begin with.

He tried to track it but it was gone as quickly as he had appeared, the crunching of branches notified Erbluhen that it had left the area. With a sigh, he plopped down again. The shrubbery before him parted once more, but to reveal the hunting group.

Chase pushed apart the shrubs first, a large deer slung over his shoulder. Rune was directly behind him, a string of rabbits in one arm and the other shoving at some wayward branches. The rest of the hunters followed after, clapping Chase on the back with words of congratulations. Chase merely nodded and smiled, faintly, back.

“We’re back,” Rune chimed, placing the rabbits in a pile with the rest of the game, “Chase was so cool.” He struck a pose and made some finger gun gestures, blowing out the make-belief smoke, “Silent but deadly.”

Chase could merely laugh, “C'mon, let’s have dinner and get to bed. If we stay up late, we’ll pay for it in the morning.”

“What’s wrong with praising my friends, huh?” Rune yelled, but the majority were at work skinning the game already, and Erbluhen threw the potatoes he had peeled in the meantime into the stew.

Before bed, Erbluhen prayed to Ishmael for a sign of what he should do once they came into contact with the corruption, and as expected, received nothing.

The moon was a thin crescent. As he fell asleep, he wondered if Arme was looking at the sky and thinking of him.

Morning came and they set out on the path again. It was a long and shoddily built dirt path, with many areas not more than mud, but the important thing that it was there. No one had used these roads in a long time. When the corruption spread from the old capital, overnight, areas of former human settlement were abandoned. The trade stopped, and people left. Before long, walls were built to keep the diseased out and to keep pure in. People who caught the plague were killed on sight. Soldiers that returned from the purges came back as the victims of the purges themselves.

That was the story.

Humanity retreated into pockets with the spread of corruption, and the capital with the white walls was the largest surviving pocket of humanity. Hundreds of years ago, not long after the corruption reached its peak, Ishmael and her judge walked this earth to purify the sick and kick human civilization back into gear. That was why her worship was so well established.

If she could do that, Erbluhen thought, why not eliminate the corruption all together?

Then again, Erbluhen had no way of knowing the truth of the story. At most, it was a story to be read to children.

The wagon continued on the journey, and the creaking of the wheels felt like they would never end. He prayed to Ishmael every night but never once did Ishmael reply. In the meantime, Rune and Chase kept the journey lively with their bawdy jokes and good humour. Without them, Erbluhen wondered if he would have survived the boredom.

Erbluhen noticed three signs before deciding they had arrived in the corrupted lands.

The first sign was the horses. They dropped from their usual pace to a slogging walk. Sores appeared in their gums and their joints had become swollen. When the knight leader proposed a rest, the horses died the next morning. The group buried the horses and pitched their tents there that night.

The second came not that long after. People began complaining of nausea and headaches, even when they were eating the same diet as the days prior. Rune and Chase weren’t spared from this, either. Though they seemed too not be as affected by headaches and nausea, the merry chatter Erbluhen had grown accustomed to fell to silence. Erbluhen himself showed no sign of sickness. He had an inkling, however, that they arrived in the corruption.

The third was not a sign, but a moment of revelation. When Erbluhen had lost track of how long they had been in that place, it clicked. Days and nights passed in monotony. The warm, stagnant air wafted in and out, but it made Erbluhen understand why so many complained of illness. Unlike the forest, the thick trees around them were bare, dry and spindly, black as if burned to ash.

A camp was set up, and Erbluhen stepped aside, though still in sight of the camp, to pray to Ishmael. He quickly built a small altar of stone and blessed it with a cross. He prayed for a short time for her blessings, and when he returned to the camp, he declared, “I’m going in further.”

It alarmed the attention of everyone around the camp, and Erbluhen merely smiled, “I’d like to get a deeper look inside. Since everyone isn’t feeling well, I’d like you all to get some rest. It wouldn’t do to try anything when you aren’t at your fullest potential.”

The knight leader grumbled, “I’m sorry we cannot accompany you…”

“Nonsense. When you are well, I will naturally assign you your duties.”

Rune and Chase were unsatisfied with this explanation. They stopped him at the edge of the deeper forest, “We’ll protect you, should anything happen, you have to let us do that. We’re your bodyguards.”

Erbluhen did not reject them and simply looked thoughtful, “But if anything happens or you feel like you’re getting worse, you’ll come back?”

Chase shoved his hand in front of Rune’s mouth, “We will, we promise.”

Erbluhen relented. From the determined look in the boys’ eyes, if he didn’t relent, the boys would have pressured him until he did, then they would have made no progress at all for who knows how long. He’d just have to keep a closer eye on them.

The three of them, like that, trekked deeper into the dark forest.

He didn’t know how long they had been walking through ash when the small cottage appeared in the center of a clearing. He could see the sun shining through. The felt clear and fresh. Rune and Chase took deep breaths, trying not to look obvious that they were. Erbluhen didn’t call them out. The incredulity was mutual among them, however, because what they saw was shocking.

“There were settlers outside the walls before the corruption broke out, right?” Chase looked to Erbluhen for confirmation, and Erbluhen could only nod. He didn’t know, either.

The cottage didn’t look like it was abandoned. A line of clothes still hung on a line above a small garden.

“Father,” Rune warned, hand already reaching for his sword.

Erbluhen shook his head, “Let’s go see if whoever lives there is still in for a chat.”

Rune looked to Chase, who nodded and released his grip on his guns and echoed the gesture.

With care, Erbluhen knocked on the door. A few moments passed silence, Rune opened his mouth to speak, but the door creaked open before he could say anything. From the crack in the door, the three could see that the inside of the cottage was bathed in complete darkness. Heavy curtains must have covered every possible source of light.

When the door opened, a dark shadow stood in front of them. Erbluhen rubbed his eyes and realized that it was not a dark shadow, but rather someone in a dark cloak. It was hard to tell, but silver hair cascaded on to the floor, shimmering slightly with each small gesture the figure made.

Erbluhen thrust out his hand with a smile. “How do you do?”

The foreigner shifted slightly, an expression that could only be read as hurt made its way into his face, but he at least understood to shake back. “You’re…” He gasped as if he hadn’t spoken for ten years, “You’re here.”

“My name is Erbluhen Emotion, I am an emissary of the goddess Ishmael. My apologies for interrupting you today. Might I ask you for your name, at least?” His eyes flickered back to Rune, whose was expression was obvious. Rune wanted them to get out as fast as possible. Erbluhen understood the fear but pushed it aside for now.

“My name is……. Apostasia,” the foreigner finally spoke. Although his expression was empty, his brows began to knit together, “I…”

“It’s alright,” Erbluhen reassured him, patting his hand, “If you wish for us to leave, just say the word.”

Apostasia inhaled deeply, and his expression relaxed again, “Please, come in for some tea. We can… talk more inside.”

Erbluhen glanced back at Rune and Chase and nodded with a smile. Rune and Chase looked at each other and did not share Erbluhen’s confidence.

“I’ll make it up to you later. Put a good word for you at the church and all that. You know.” Erbluhen promised.

The two of them sighed and shook their heads, but nevertheless stepped inside the dark cottage.

  
『 if just one thing is eliminated, then this world will continue on. 』

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [tumblr mirror](https://bad-end.tumblr.com/post/173248965845/the-ecliptic-210-thermidor)  
> originally posted april 24, 2018.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr mirror.](https://bad-end.tumblr.com/tagged/f%3A-the-ecliptic/chrono)  
> \- originally posted april 13th, 2018


End file.
